North Carolina

For North Carolina we appreciated learning about native history in the area, and more recent civil rights history. The kids enjoyed reading some Carl Sandberg poetry, and connecting more to complex moments in NC history through historical novels (Soft Rain, and Stella by Starlight). 

Books:

• North Carolina (A True Book: My United States) by Ann O. Squire

• T is for TarHeel: A North Carolina Alphabet by Carol Crane

• Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell

• Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan

• Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Excellence by Deloris Jordan

• To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers by Wendie C. Old

• Who Were the Wright Brothers? By James Buckley Jr.

• Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

• Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford

• The Ride: The Legend of Betsy Dowdy by Kitty Griffin

• An Island Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk on a Barrier Island by Virginia Wright-Frierson

• Roanoke: The Lost Colony--An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen

• Carl Sandburg: Poetry for Young People

• Carl Sandburg : adventures of a poet by Penelope Niven

• Nina: A Story of Nina Simone by Traci N. Todd

• The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears by Susan E. Hamen (Epic)

• Soft Rain: A Story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears by Cornelia Cornelissen

• Article about Myrtle Driver Johnson: https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/25547-cherokee-from-the-heart-beloved-woman-reflects-on-a-wandering-life-rooted-in-cherokee-language 

• Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper

• Ernestine’s Milky Way by Kerry Madden

• My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey (Except we read this in NY)

• Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton

Art Project:

The Wright Brothers Flight at Kitty Hawk, NC

Although the Wright Brothers were from Ohio, they tested their planes in North Carolina, and it is there that they first succeeded at flight! The kids wanted to depict this for their art project using sharpie and oil pastel, with water color for the sky.